This page sets out to tell you a bit about the mouthpiece but reading this first may not be your style. Some people, and that includes me, want to have a little play first. If that’s you too, take a look at the Getting Started page and then come back to this later.
A brass mouthpiece may look like a relatively simple piece of plastic or metal but its shape hides many secrets and we need to have a few words to describe these. Fortunately the brass world does agree on most of the names we need to describe our mouthpiece and the diagram below shows some of these.
In these pages, we will describe the essential features of your mouthpiece using, by and large the generally-accepted terminology. However, the many pages on this site cover the brass mouthpiece in so much detail that we have had to elaborate on a few terms and, in a few cases, invent names to identify what we’re discussing. The text will make it clear what is industry-standard usage and when we have had to resort to new terms.
The software behind mouthpiece.store provides you with a range of ready built mouthpieces for a range of different brass mouthpieces ans, most vitally, also provides the facility for you to adjust these to suit your needs. The pages provided will point you in the right direction when it comes to knowing what changes to make. Before you commit a mouthpiece to be printed, you will need to know a little about how it functions.These pages have been written to allow you to approach the task at whatever level you desire. There’s no need to go into the minute detail of how ta mouthpiece works to get going but, if you do need to delve a little deeper, there’s a lot of information in these pages.
Some of the ideas about mouthpieces are based upon theory but a lot is gained simply from years of experience of brass players over the years. So, while some of what you will read here has a scientific basis, much comes from human experience and is still awaiting explanation by physicists and mathematicians.
So, please read on…
The Rim
This is the bit where you and the instrument meet so it’s important in many ways. It may look no more than a curvy bit on the end of the mouthpiece proper but its curvy or flat form has more to it than meets the eye. To read about the rim in more detail, you can take a look at About the Rim
The Cup
You blow into this and it responds by driving the whole instrument behind it. Its shape and size are vital in many, many ways and need to be fitted to the instrument behind it and the player in front. Again, you can approach this at many levels but start by reading About the Cup
The Throat
The only bit of the mouthpiece to be given a human identity, the throat forms a restriction which enables the cup to work as a resonator. It’s not just the diamiter of this element which is important but also the shape of the approach to it. To start to get to grips with the throat, you may read About the Throat.
The Shank
This is the portion of the mouthpiece which fits into the portion of the instrument which is referred to as the receiver. It is important that this is a good fit but unfortunate that there appears to be no standard for the tapers of mouthpiece and reciever. You may read about our approach in About the Shank.
The Backbore
This is the section downstream of the cup and throat and the last section of the mouthpiece before the air enters the instrument proper. It plays its part in connecting the airways of the mouthpiece and instrument. There’s more to read on the role of the backbore in About the Backbore.
Materials
Mouthpieces were first made in natural materials, then bronze but, in more-recent times have been made from brass and in even-more recent times from plastics. As brass contains a large percentage of copper and has, in the past contained some lead, mouthpieces of are usually plated with either silver or gold to prevent the player coming into contact with poisonous elements. Silver has the advantage that it is mildly germicidal.
Some pundits suggest that a silver-plated mouthpiece yields a clearer, darker sound than gold that it is particularly good for styles of playing that require clarity and projection. No evidence has been put forward to support this claim and it remains a very dubious one that pating will have any measurable effect on the sound output of a mouthpiece/ instrument arrangement.
Plastic mouthpieces have become widely available in recent years and are available in several colours. Thesestrong enough to withstand the treatment they receive in normal use and are less expensive than metal mouthpieces. They come into their own when playing outdoors as their thermal conductivity is lower than that of a metal mouthpiece. Some players who believe metal mouthpieces to be superior suggest that plastic mouthpieces yield an inferior tone quality and feel compared to metal to support their opinion and it has to be doubted.